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YouTube unveils new layout for brand channels

YouTube released its new channel layout, YouTube One Channel, last week. The updates give brands the opportunity to personalize and organize their page in ways that are very different from previous user capabilities.

Here are a couple of tips for handling the new changes and optimizing the new options available:

1. Welcome video

The new YouTube One Channel enables businesses to upload a welcome video geared towards viewers who don’t subscribe to the page. When making the welcome video, keep in mind that viewers don’t enjoy advertisements and tend to engage more with videos that have a personal element. Also, try to keep the videos short, between roughly 30 seconds and a minute, although if your content is compelling enough, you can certainly exceed that limit.

Here are some welcome video ideas in action from several large brands.

Impromptu or “man-on-the-street” interviews. For example, Intel’s “Mobile World Congress 2013: Out and About”:

What the company means to employees. For example: “GE Employees: What We Do at GE”:

A behind-the-scenes look at an important aspect of the company. For example, “Behind the Scenes Look at McDonald’s Photo Shoot”:

A look at what the company is developing. For example, “A Day Made of Glass … Made Possible By Corning”:

2. Personalized channel

The new YouTube One Channel is easier to personalize in some ways and more difficult to personalize in others. For instance, personalized backgrounds have been removed but there is now the option to add a large header image called “Channel Art.” This is a great way for companies to present a well-branded page that is clean and does not detract from the videos.

The Channel Art will also serve as a background for the brand’s logo and social media buttons. This is great for brands looking to drive traffic from their YouTube page to their other social media environments because the buttons are displayed in a format that viewers are guaranteed to notice.

3. Organized content

YouTube also enables users to re-organize their content. Businesses can optimize this feature by categorizing their videos and organizing them into playlists. By organizing videos into playlists businesses are making it easy for viewers to find a collection of videos on a topic of their interest and helping to increase the amount of time users spend on the business’ YouTube channel.

Companies without the resources to develop multiple new videos will also be able to use this new feature to highlight their older videos. This is a great way to keep a YouTube page looking fresh and updated even if there is a long period between video uploads.

Gini is a social media strategist and public relations professional working for The Targeted Group. Read more from her here and follow her on Twitter @giniarnold.